Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) researchers predicted that global warming will cause disease to infect 76.8% of corals worldwide by the year 2100. The researchers constructed a data collection containing 108 studies on worldwide coral illness for a subsequent meta-analysis in their current study, which was published on Wednesday in the Ecology Letters journal, according to the Xinhua news agency. They discovered that increasing weekly sea surface temperature anomalies (WSSTAs) and average summer sea surface temperatures (SSTs) were both linked to an increase in the occurrence of coral disease globally.
Between 1992 and 2018, the prevalence of coral disease grew globally and reached 9.92%. When predicting future estimates of coral disease, the model suggested that if temperatures continue to rise, the disease prevalence may reach 76.8% in 2100. Samantha Burke, a PhD candidate at UNSW Sydney and the study’s lead author, said the findings highlight the detrimental consequences that warming temperatures have on coral reefs and the urgent need for immediate action to prevent climate change.
Burke stated that “coral disease is a serious contributor to coral mortality globally and reef decline, and our modeling indicates that it will only get worse.” The researcher issued a warning that if urgent action is not made to address global warming, the incidence of coral disease would continue to rise, infecting more coral.
“Coral stress increases as the ocean warms, which can reduce its immune response,” added Burke. The bacterium that causes illness may thrive in settings that are more favorable as temperatures rise. The only thing that is known for sure is that the coral is sick and the tissue is dying, regardless of whether the bacteria linked to sick coral are the disease’s cause or a consequence of it. Researchers need to investigate this more since it is unclear if the fungus or bacteria present caused the sickness or just fed on the dying tissue. She went on.
